Background and Relevance
The Mexican government aims to implement a reduction of work hours from 48 to 40 per week by 2030. However, the diverse sectors and sizes within the service industry make it challenging for all to comply with this reduction. Eduardo Ulises Chávez Hidalgo, president of the National Small Business Chamber (Conacope) in Querétaro, has spoken on behalf of the commerce, services, and tourism sector, requesting their exclusion from this project.
Who is Eduardo Ulises Chávez Hidalgo?
Eduardo Ulises Chávez Hidalgo is the president of Conacope, an organization representing small businesses in Querétaro, Mexico. His stance on the work hour reduction reflects the concerns of numerous businesses within the service sector.
Key Arguments Against Reduction
- Nature of Each Sector: Chávez Hidalgo argues that the service sector’s unique structural labor and production conditions make a work hour reduction inapplicable.
- Current Economic Conditions: He emphasizes that the existing economy does not support the necessary conditions for implementing a reduced work week.
- Lack of Realism and Dialogue: The president stresses that a labor reform of this magnitude without operative realism, local dialogue, or differentiation between productive branches could lead to increased informality, uncertainty, and lower productivity for most businesses.
Proposed Alternatives for Implementation
Despite seeking exclusion, Chávez Hidalgo presented several proposals for a proper reform implementation:
- Administrative Simplification: Promote digital mechanisms for administrative simplification.
- Fiscal and Financial Incentives: Implement tax and financial incentives to compensate for the increased costs businesses will face.
- Preferential Financial Support Programs: Offer accessible and recurring financial support for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to invest in technology.
- Local Commerce Strengthening Programs: Develop campaigns to boost local consumption and support commerce.
- Monitoring and Evaluation: Establish a labor transition observatory to measure the impact of the reduction.
Additional Perspectives
Francisco Martínez Domene, president of the Mexican Association of Human Capital Companies (Amech), advocates for sector-specific, clear analyses to avoid losing competitiveness.
- Gradual and Sectorial Implementation: Propose a sectorially differentiated, phased implementation through staggered deadlines and a progressive review calendar.
- Flexible Work Models: Allow for flexible work models, such as introductory, weekly, or monthly schedules, to adapt to demand and avoid operational interruptions while reaching 40 hours.
- Strengthened Social Dialogue: Encourage permanent negotiation tables during the reform implementation period and provide tax incentives and financial support for companies.
- Productivity Focus: Measure company performance through quantifiable results, such as non-physical work center presence, labor flexibility with social protection, and continuous monitoring, evaluation, and adjustments to assess the reduction’s impact.
Additional Sectoral Input
Juan Carlos Alarcón, vice president of human resources for Walmart de Mexico and Centroamérica, supports a gradual and differentiated implementation along with productivity incentives and support.
- Tax Deductibility: Allow deductions related to social security and technological investment incentives.
- Labor Flexibility: Review the homogenization of work schedules.
- Partial Work Recognition: Acknowledge partial work within the legal framework.
- Administrative and Regulatory Simplification: Provide administrative and regulatory simplification mechanisms for those implementing partial work models.
- Flexible Work Arrangements: Allow for work arrangements based on work centers.
- Training Programs: Develop capacity-building programs.
Sectoral Union Input
Abel Domínguez Azuz, general secretary of the Confederation of Workers and Farmers (CTC), emphasizes the need to address underprotected sectors, such as working mothers, single mothers, people with disabilities, and young workers.
